Video display devices present video data for viewing by a user. Typically, the video data presented by a display device comprises a sequential series of video frames that are intended for playback at a given rate, e.g., 29.97 frames per second as set forth in National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) standards. As this video data does not contain any depth information, the video data is characterized as two-dimensional (2D) video data. Display devices that present this 2D video data are often referred to as “2D displays.”
Currently, three-dimensional (3D) display devices are being developed to present three-dimensional (3D) video data. These so-called “3D displays” may require additional viewing accessories, such as shutter glasses, polarized glasses or bi-color glasses (e.g., glasses with one red and one green colored lens) to properly view the presented 3D video data. 3D display devices that require additional viewing accessories are often referred to as “stereoscopic 3D displays.” Other 3D display devices referred to as “auto-stereoscopic 3D displays” are capable of presenting 3D video data that is viewable by viewers without the need for any additional viewing accessories.
Whether stereoscopic or auto-stereoscopic, 3D displays of different manufacturers typically require 3D video data that complies with a vendor- or manufacturer-specific input file format. For example, one proposed 3D video data format comprises 2D video data plus depth information, and is referred to as “2D-plus-depth.” A 2D-plus-depth display device may only present 3D video data provided in the 2D-plus-depth 3D video data format. Other types of 3D displays may require 3D video data in a multi-view 2D stream format. The multi-view 2D stream format packages a plurality of 2D streams, where the 2D streams are each acquired from the same scene with different capture elements (e.g., cameras) at the same time (ideally, synchronized). As a result of these different and typically proprietary 3D video data formats, a given 3D display device from one manufacturer may only present 3D video data that is formatted in accordance with that manufacturer's proprietary 3D video data format.